Always
by Izzi Creo
Summary: “I’ve been here before a few times and I’m quite aware we’re dying.” The only girl who didn’t break his heart is determined to fix it. ‘Definitely, Maybe’ inspiration. Full summary inside.
1. Birthday Treats

You're going to have to keep up with me on this one as there's much to get through…

Basically, this is a new fic of mine.  
Completely different to all of my past ones because:  
a) the characters are slightly different age wise  
b) I'm not focusing on crime solving at all.  
c) this is sort of like a rom-com  
d) most of the writing is based on flashbacks and storytelling  
e) Unless said otherwise, all children of the characters on TB don't exist.

Despite that, obvious it's majorly _AU_, I'm going to try my utmost hardest for it to keep in character. I know some people will want to turn away because this hardly sounds like a Bill fic but I assure you it is, I'm still using Bill characters - there's just a small assortment of my own to make this hopefully work.  
Now, you may be wondering what the hell possessed me to do this;  
Basically, when I first saw the _'Definitely, Maybe'_ trailer I was majorly mislead about what the plotline was about so I thought heck, my ideas are _too_ bad so why not incorporate them into a fic?  
You _**don't **_have to have watched _'Definitely, Maybe'_ in order to understand because it's mainly the misleading trailer that my inspiration came from but there will be teensy snippets that I can't resist pinching. **(Attempts to look innocent)  
**This is set in September 2008 onwards because it won't fit the timeline later otherwise.  
If you still fancy turning away then this is your opportunity, I'm not forcing you to read - however, I shall say that I really do want you to read and hope that making by making big eyes you do so. xD  
Nah, I'm joking. Don't read if you don't want to.

Hopefully I've covered everything and you're not completely put off.

**Title: Always  
Author: Evelyn Carnahan  
Rating: K+  
Genre: Romance and hopefully a tad bit of humour.  
Future Song: 'Always' by Blink-182  
Summary: "I've been here before a few times and I'm quite aware we're dying." The only girl who didn't break his heart is determined to fix it. 'Definitely, Maybe' inspiration. Full summary inside.**

**  
**_Evelyn Carnahan_

* * *

Always  
One;

Thirty six year old Phil Hunter was a Detective Sergeant at a small, East London police station in Sun Hill where he lived in a small house with his eleven year old daughter, Zoe. He was a full-time single parent to her after she had been abandoned in one of his previous stations when she was barely six months old, laying in a baby carrier atop the reception desk with a note for him. The note hadn't been signed and he demanded the front office receptionist describe the woman who had left the child to him but she had refused, saying the woman had begged her to say anything.

Feeling angry and like he was being stitched up he had grudgingly took the child into his care and had a paternity test made to see whether he actually was the father, when the test came back positive there was no way he could deny the child love and had fast become devoted to her...

"_It's seven-oh-one on Saturday the 28__th__ September and we're kick starting the day with the unbeatable classic by Katrina and the Waves; 'Walking on Sunshine' in hope that the sun will make an appearance before the winter."_

Phil stood in the kitchenette; frying eggs noisily whilst Zoe sat at the marble top breakfast bar on a stool, sipping a mug of hot chocolate. They both still wore their pyjamas; he was in grey sweatpants, a white short sleeved top with a dark blue dressing gown whilst she sat in blue pyjamas bottoms with a white tank top and a thick, purple dressing gown over to keep warm.

"Your birthday breakfast, madam," he said as he set a plate of bacon, egg, beans and toast in front of her. She smiled up at him.

"Thanks dad."

_"I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure ..."_

He set a similar plate down beside hers which had tomatoes rather than beans and took his seat beside her, they picked up cutlery and began tucking in, sitting in a comfortable silence. After a few mouthfulls the door went and Zoe jumped down from her seat to collect the mail, she yanked it out of the letterbox and walked back, flicking through the contents. One of the letters was formal and addressed to her father but the others were addressed to her, a pink envelope, a purple envelope and a blue one.

_"... And I'm walking on sunshine, woah. I'm walking on sunshine, woah. I'm walking on sunshine, woah. And it's starting to feel good!"_

She clutched them in one hand, anticipation making her stomach knot uncomfortably as she returned to where her dad sat, still eating. She put his letter down beside his plate on the breakfast bar before taking up her own seat; one by one she tore open the envelopes and took out the birthday cards. One was from her friend at school, Rosie, who had been ill for the past week so hadn't been able to give her card to her; it was accompanied with a crisp five pound note. The second card was from the monthly magazine she was signed up to which sent birthday cards to all their readers. The third card was the purple one, she fingered the opening gently, wondering if after all the years of waiting this would be it; her mum would have finally got in contact.

"Why don't you open it?" Phil asked, breaking the silence. He'd seen her vacant, wistful expression – he saw it each and every year. Even he held a small amount of hope that maybe her mum actually had got into contact every time Zoe's birthday arrived, but she was always left crushed.

'_Purple is my favourite colour,'_ Zoe thought to herself. _'My mum would know that wouldn't she? She'd be able to tell, somehow.' _

Making up her mind, Zoe swallowed hard before opening the envelope carefully; she pulled out the card and opened it. Slowly removing the twenty pound note so she could read the words, she felt her hope dissolve but forced a happy smile on her face as she looked up at her dad who seemed as expectant and hopeful as her; "It's from Gran, she gave me a whole twenty pounds!"

Zoe noticed her dad's face fall and decided he wasn't much of an actor, but he quickly recomposed himself. "Well that's good, I can arrange for a day sometime for you two to go out shopping together if you want?"

"Yes please," Zoe gushed. "Thanks dad."

"You're welcome," he smiled. "Now what d'you want to do today? We can go anywhere you want."

"Can we go to the London Aquarium, by the London Eye and that?" Zoe asked, she loved animals and had gone to London Zoo the year before on a school trip.

"Sure," her dad replied as he bit into a slice of toast and waited to swallow. "Once we're done here, we can go upstairs to get ready and then get the tube down to Waterloo."

"Cool," Zoe smiled happily as she picked up her own toast and began eating it.

* * *

The father and daughter were in the Reef section of the Aquarium, stood looking at the seahorses. Zoe watched them mesmerised and squealed excitedly as she saw two seahorses circling together through the water whilst holding a piece of sea grass with their tales. "Dad look, they're dancing."

"Really?" Phil asked, looking closer at the two sea horses. "You're not trying to pull my leg are you?"

She laughed at him; "No. It's what they do when they're courting; it's called the 'pre-dawn dance'. Did you know that if two seahorses, one male and one female, find a mutual attraction at the beginning of mating season then they court each other first and even if other seahorses interfere they won't take any notice because it's just the two of them? It's like they were meant to be together. Then they have the 'courtship dance' which actually lasts eight whole hours!"

"Wow, their feet must hurt." He grinned, laughing at his own humour.

Zoe rolled her eyes at him; "They don't have feet dad. They're seahorses, they just have tails."

"It was a joke!" He ruffled her long brown hair which curled at the tips.

"Anyway," she said dragging it out for dramatic effect. "The seahorses then go through the mating process in which the woman lays her fertilized eggs in the man's pouch and he carries them, she goes away but every single day she meets him for six minutes before leaving again – _every_ single day she returns. Impressive, eh?"

"Mm, very. But what I want to know is how do you find out all this stuff?" He asked.

"I watch the nature shows don't I? And I'm signed up to the magazine; _Roar!_ It's about all kinds of animals and it has amazing, fun facts in it." She said, nodding.

"Ahh," he simply said but he was secretly glad she wasn't into the magazines that tried to make children grow up faster than they really needed to. "So, did you just decide you would dazzle me with these fun facts then?"

"Not exactly, I was more thinking about the courting." She said, trying to sound inconspicuous.

"Oh yeah, and why's that?" He asked, not falling for her subtle ways.

"Well I was just thinking about you. Did you ever court anyone?"

"Yeah," he nodded wondering what she was getting at.

"Did you court my mum?" She asked and he almost grinned, he knew there had to have been something.

"Yeah, I suppose I did." He said casually, walking away from the seahorses as crowds were forming to get a closer look.

"How?" Zoe pressed, jogging to catch up with him.

"You know I can't tell you Zoe." He sighed.

"Can't or won't?" She demanded, stubbornly.

"Can't," he turned to face her. "Look Zoe if I could then I would but I can't, I'm sorry."

"Surely you've got something to say, there can't just be nothing at all?" She asked.

He sighed; "I'm sorry Zoe, now c'mon let's get out of here. It's getting pretty busy and we've seen everything, right?"

"Sure," she sighed sadly and trailed along behind him as he pressed past people towards the exit.

* * *

Later that night, Zoe was propped up against her pillows in bed waiting for her dad to arrive, it was routine for him to talk to her before she went to bed but right then she didn't feel very tired – she wanted to keep pressing him about her mum.

Zoe's room had light purple walls with a white ceiling and pink floorboards, her bed sat underneath the window and faced towards the door where she was staring expectantly for her dad to arrive. Eventually he walked in and she sat up straighter; "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I was on the phone to your Gran. She wanted to make sure twenty was enough, I told her of course it was." He rolled his eyes dramatically and Zoe giggled, leaning back into her pillows again, relaxing. "So kiddo, what should we talk about today."

"Let's talk about you." She said slowly, before adding hastily. "And my mum." He sighed and looked up at her pleading face. "Please?"

"Oh alright," he sighed sitting on the bed at her feet. "I'll tell you everything I can but I don't actually know who you're mum is."

"Why not?" She asked, confused.

"Because ... well you see, I've only ever loved three women. There have been more women but out of all of them I only ever loved three, and they were all kind of around the same time so any of them could be your mum." He explained.

She sat in a stunned silence for a moment; "Huh ... and they say _girls _are bad!"

"Yeah, I know. Boys are just as bad." He said, ashamedly. "But I was rather young then so I thought it wouldn't matter."

"Anyway, how do you begin?" Zoe asked and she watched her dad look thoughtful for a moment before getting up and leaving. "Da-ad?!" She called after him, thinking she had actually got through to him but then he'd taken off. However after a few minutes he returned carrying a box, one that she'd seen stuffed on top of his wardrobe and had always been curious about but couldn't reach. He settled back into his previous seat and placed the box on the bed in front of him, he pulled open the box and a smell hit Zoe, a perfume she remembered as though from a dream.

"Mum," she exhaled softly.

Phil took out of the box a dusty looking pink bear that Zoe seemed to recognise as well as an envelope with the top ripped off and a photograph which had a bent corner. He passed the bear and photograph to Zoe who looked at it, a small baby was grinning at the camera and clutching the bear in a tight fist, she flipped the photograph over and read the neat handwriting on the back;

_Zoe with cuddles; aged five months. _

"I suppose," Phil said softly. "The only way to begin is from the end and then to the beginning again. You see, I was a PC at a South London police station back in 1997 and I was on my refs; which is like a coffee break or a lunch break when I got a message from a colleague saying that I was needed at the front desk – which is the reception. I went there and there was a load of female PC's surrounding the desk, as soon as they saw me they stood back, giggling and I didn't know what for. Then I saw a baby laying in a baby carrier, clutching that pink teddy, the carrier was on the front desk and I moved away from it so I could ask the receptionist what she wanted. She told me that the baby was mine. I was shocked to say the least; I'd never looked after a child before let alone having one left for me. I demanded to know if this was someone's idea of a prank but the receptionist explained that a woman had come in with the baby and said it was for PC Phil Hunter and that the letter explained everything and she was sorry. I insisted she tell me who had left me a baby but she wouldn't tell me, saying she was respecting the woman's wishes who had begged her not to say anything. I was completely stunned, I took you away with me and went to my Inspector, I had to explain the situation and I requested some leave that I was owed before taking you back home with me. To begin with I was sceptical, were you really my daughter? I admit, I had a paternity test made to check and when it came back positive I thought well you definitely are so what's stopping me from loving you? And the answer was nothing, I loved you before the test even came back and to be entirely honest ... I was hoping it would come back positive."

"But who was the woman who left me?" Zoe asked quietly, looking at her lap.

"I think it was your mum, or a friend of your mum's. Either way, you were a present to me from your mum." Phil said, trying to ease the sadness by referring to her as a 'present'.

"So my mum didn't want me?" Zoe asked as her eyes stung with unshed tears.

"No Zoe, I think your mum wanted you _very_ much it's just something – and I'm not sure what – went wrong so she decided it would be best if I looked after you." Phil explained as he had strong beliefs that Zoe's mum – whoever she was – didn't not love Zoe. "I've got this letter addressed to me, it was in your carrier and I've always kept it for when this time arose. It says;

_Dear Phil,_

_I know this may come as a shock but this is Zoe Hunter, she's yours. I'm sorry to just dump her on you like this, but some things just have to be done and this is one of those things. Zoe is better off with you rather than me, I can't provide for her like I should be able to whereas I believe you can. You're much stronger than I am Phil and I know she'll be safe with you._

_Please don't just abandon her, she needs you. Oh god, that sounds so hypocritical but that's the way it is unfortunately, I wish I could stay with her but I really can't. Please Phil, just don't be like me basically. _

_She's six months old, is up to date with all the necessary jabs and is a relatively healthy baby. She drinks cows milk, one every six hours and she sleeps a full nine hours so I guess you should time it so it coincides with your times._

_Again, I'm sorry about his.  
__Please make sure Zoe knows I love her.  
Good luck.__  
__x_."

"It wasn't signed?" Zoe asked when her dad had finished reading.

"No, I don't think she wanted me to track her down." He sighed sadly. "But you heard all that right? She definitely loved you and no doubt she still does, there was just some things that went wrong and so she had to give you up."

Zoe nodded; "Ok, so now I know she loved me and didn't want to leave me. Let's start at the beginning, these three women."

Phil groaned. "This is the hard bit."

"For you it is," she said as she grinned at him.

"You might not like some of the things I say," he warned.

"You mean I might not like you being a manwhore? Dad, _pur-lease_ ... I've been with you for the past eleven years I know you can be a manwhore." Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Hey!" Phil laughed, pinching her toes through the duvet and blankets.

She laughed; "C'mon, carry on or we'll still be here by my twelfth birthday."

"Alright, alright. Well, it starts off in the year 1990 when I was nineteen years old..."

* * *

**Review?  
****Yeah, that was a rather long chapter.  
I just got so carried away in my excitement  
of writing again.  
Teehee.**


	2. Starting Hendon

**SaMaNdPhiL4eVeR: **Thanks for the review hun; once the first is over and done with the anxiety seems to withdraw :) I was hoping by calling her a 'present' it would make the readers sympathise with the mother just a little bit more, lol. She gave Phil a great thing. Glad you like Zoe, I quite enjoy writing her innocence, makes me remember when I was eleven and innocent, hehe. Ah, the seahorses shall be making a return performance later on, just because I rather like seahorses as they're so delicate. 'Definitely, Maybe' is a really good girly film, I recently watched it on YouTube as it has my favourite actress in it and then I bought it with my birthday money as I wasn't disappointed, although mislead, lol. Glad the cliff hanger was to your liking with Phil as the manwhore :)  
**Rose Tyler611: **Cheers for the review; I'm hoping to bring out more of Zoe's innocence as the story progresses especially when the mending of Phil's heart kicks in and her 'happily ever after' view on romance starts.  
**Dr. Juliet Burke:** I totally forgot last chapter, but thanks for previewing the opening! I'm glad you 'loved it' :D I'm glad I'm writing TB again too, I feel all good on the inside :) Ta! So many times I said "happy birthday to you too" then been like "ooh, no wait. Sorry." Lol and thanks for reviewing!  
**ihearthuxon:** Love the avatar :] I saw that picture before and thought it was cute but the added writing finishes the effect off :) Cheers for the review! All shall be revealed ... eventually, it's going to take a while. Hehe. I like it that way (looks innocent!)

**Cheers guys, this one's for you all :)**

**I tried to research Hendon but it didn't really tell me much that I didn't know already, so if I get a few things wrong then I apologise. :)  
****Heads up, **_**bold**__**italics **_**are present day Zoe and Phil breaking into the story with their input.**

_Evelyn Carnahan_

Always  
Two;

_September, 1990._

Nineteen year old Phil Hunter stood unpacking his bags in his dorm room at Hendon Police College; it was the principal training area for the London's Metropolitan police service in Colindale, North London. He'd wanted to join the police force simply because where he came from most of the young men ended up behind the bars; he guessed he had a better chance if he was on the right-hand side of the law. He looked up as an Asian kid who looked to be the same age as him entered the room, a stuffed rucksack slung over his shoulder.

"Oh hey, looks like we're roommates." The kid stuck his hand out and Phil shook it. "I'm Zain ... Nadir."

"Phil Hunter," he replied.

They both began unpacking and sorting their room out, making small talk as they got to know each other better. Soon, they knew most things and the rest they supposed they would learn along the way. Their room consisted of two beds and a couple of bedside tables with a desk by the door, there was another door which led to a small, simple bathroom which housed a toilet, basin and shower. The kitchen was down the corridor for the residents of the third floor, there were three more identical rooms to theirs along the floor and each room housed two lodgers, so a total of eight residents.

Zain finished unpacking before Phil did and crashed out on his bed, he tucked his hands behind his head and looked at his new mate as he pulled a framed photograph out of his rucksack and placed it on the bedside table beside him. The photograph was of a young woman. She had long, auburn hair and green eyes. She wore a red, leather miniskirt with long, black boots. Her top half was concealed underneath a fur rimmed denim jacket, she was sat back on a wooden bench, one leg crossed over the other and looking seductively at the camera.

"Girlfriend?" Zain asked.

"Yeah, since secondary school can you believe?" He replied with a slight chuckle.

"What's her name?"

"It's ..."

"_**It's um ... well ... um."**_

"_**Can you not even remember her name?" Zoe asked shocked.**_

"_**No, it's not that. It's just ... well knowing you; you'll try tracking them down or something." He laughed, pinching her toes through the duvet again. **_

_**Zoe sighed impatiently; "Well change their names then."**_

"_**OK ... what to?" He asked.**_

"_**Evangeline." Zoe grinned.**_

_**Phil shook his head. "Way too long."**_

"_**Oh, OK then. Um ... how about Kelly?"**_

"It's Kelly."

"Cool, so if she 'the one'?" Zain asked and Phil laughed at him.

"Don't be soft!"

Zain shrugged with a grin. "Does she have any fit girl mates I could have?"

"Maybe," Phil said. "I'll see what I can do."

"Cheers." Zain sat up on his bed. "If you're finished d'you fancy going down to the canteen? Check the place out."

"Yeah just let me finish with this," Phil said. He grabbed a neatly folded pile of clothes and bunged them into a draw. "Alright, let's go."

The pair left their room and locked it up behind them; they walked to the end of their floor where a door opened to a large staircase which went another three floors upwards. They took the flights of stairs two at a time and eventually made it to the ground floor; they walked through Hendon campus and finally found the canteen after following various signs and their noses.

The canteen was packed with students, all training to become police officers. Zain and Phil made their way to the canteen's lunch queue and joined it, picking up a tray each. They chose various snack foods, not realising that price tags were non-existent until they reached the counter and the ancient woman summed it up on a slow cash register. Phil nearly chocked as she told him the price but he paid for it anyway and they made their way to an empty table.

"Extortionate prices." Zain grumbled unhappily.

"Ridiculous." Phil agreed as they grudgingly tucked into the unreasonably overpriced food. "Guess we'll have to get used to this though won't we?"

Zain sighed; "Mm, looks like it."

"I doubt we'll have enough time to rush out for food between classes, the places I know of are nowhere near here." Phil said.

"Same," Zain sighed.

* * *

The Monday after classes began for all the training officers, Phil sat at the back of a lecture with Zain as students entered the room and began choosing seats. He looked up as a couple of girls walked in together, one had dark skin and hair, she smiled broadly as she talked and seemed friendly looking. She wore simple, faded jeans and a white tank top and her long, black hair was pulled up by a hair band but it was her friend who caught his eye;

She had blonde hair that hung on her shoulders and a side fringe that shaped her hair to her face, her eyes sparkled green and she was rather petite, a head shorter than the rest of the girls in their class. She wore dark jeans that flared outwards but clung to her hips at the top with white trainers and a fitted, turquoise hooded jumper.

Purely on impulse and testosterone Phil raised from his chair, he didn't know what exactly he planned to do but somehow, he was going to talk to her. He hadn't felt this way since secondary school when he'd seen Kelly across the school field, he'd had possession of the ball during football and had ran off, his mates had shouted at him to return and then sworn at him after the other team took hold of the ball but he was past caring. He ran up to Kelly and flashed a grin, and that was it, she was his.

"Oi, where you going?" Zain asked, confused.

"I'll be back," he muttered a promise, distracted.

But their lecturer entered the room and called for quiet, he sat back in his seat with a groan. The girl – whoever she was – took a seat in the second row from the front next to her friend and he kept his eyes on the back of her head. He wasn't sure whether she could feel his eyes boring into her with a scorching gaze but after a few minutes she turned around to glance behind her and he abruptly averted his eyes to the lecturer, trying to look like he was paying extremely close attention.

After the close escape he didn't look at her again and listened to the lecturer boredly as he prattled on about himself, his life and career. Finally he finished and his eyes swept the class – a total of fifteen people; "But enough about me, this is about you. You're life. I'll be watching you all very carefully as you train and progress here. Some of you will drop out of this course. Some I will ask to leave. And some will manage to make it and succeed in life. Now, what's going to happen is I'm going to sort you into groups and those shall be yours for the rest of the year. You are responsible for each other as well as yourself, you are a team. You work together. If one starts lagging behind in their studies then the others should be helping to pull them back into shape."

The lecturer began barking out surnames and Phil vaguely listened out for his own name but other than that didn't pay attention. Zain got up and gave him a small wave as he passed to walk to his group with four others – one of which was the blonde girl's friend. His name was finally called and he stood to walk towards the corner that the lecturer gestured to, his face lit up as he realised the blonde was walking towards the corner to. He caught her up and walked in step with her.

"Hi, I'm Phil." He extended his hand to her and she shook it.

"Hi, I'm..."

"_**Laura!"**_

"... Laura."

"Pleased to meet ya." He replied, by this point they were stood in the corner with their team mates and all took turns to introduce themselves. In the group there were three men; Phil, Alastair McClare and Billy Joe Hammond. Alastair McClare preferred to be called Ali, he had dark skin and close-cropped hair, he'd become a major basketball enthusiast after moving to America two and a half years ago but had moved back to the UK to fulfil his dream of fighting crime. Billy Joe was less interesting; he had very pale skin and curly brown hair around his head with watery, extremely pale blue eyes, he'd only joined Hendon because his once police hero, retired Dad had pushed him into it. The only other girl except for Laura was Heather Cusack, she had warm brown eyes and long brown hair that was up in a bun with a few wisps framing her face and no fringe, she enjoyed sports – especially hockey and basketball (Ali looked interested) as well as hip hop music. Laura didn't say much about herself, just that she had wanted to train to be a police officer for a while and was being taught psychology and criminology by a friend outside of Hendon, Phil realised that she was rather guarded. He tried to sound interesting when he explained his home life with his annoying sixteen year old brother, Steve, his mum and his scrounger of a dad who had walked out three years ago but occassionally returned for money but he felt like he was lacking in personality, even Billy Joe who didn't want to be here had more to say than he did.

Their lecturer, Phil found out his name was Richard Seymour, joined them to check they were getting on with each other and conversing, he seemed happy with their progress and left them alone for the rest of the time whilst he spent some time with the other two groups. Eventually, Seymour dismissed them saying they were free to go for today but tomorrow they would need to be wearing suitable clothing as they would be taking part in team building games and it would be a whole day not just half a day like he'd let them have today.

Laura stood as her friend walked over to join her and began to walk away, he was about to see if he could manage to tag along when Zain found him. "Hey, wanna get a bite to eat? I'm starving."

"Yeah sure," Phil sighed.

"What's up with you?" Zain asked, raising his eyebrows at his new friend.

"Just didn't want to be cheated out of my money again." He lied, forcing a grin.

"I know what you mean," Zain said as they piled out of the lecture room. "We could always go scouring for other restaurants around here?" Zain suggested.

Laura and her friend were stood just outside the door, against the wall when Laura's friend overheard the last part of their conversation. Phil supposed she had made friends with Zain because she looked up at them both; "You trying to find somewhere to eat?"

"Yeah," Zain answered. "The canteen charges loads for a simple sandwich."

"We know a place if you wanna join us?" The young woman asked impulsively, and Zain turned to Phil.

"Want to?"

Phil grinned at Laura; "Sure."

Her cheeks tinged pink and she smiled shyly. "Phil, this is Eva Sharpe. Eva, this is Phil Hunter."

Phil shook the dark girls hand before making his own introductions; "Zain, Laura. Laura, Zain."

"Nice to meet you, now are we going or what?" Zain asked as his stomach growled with starvation and they laughed before walking down the corridors of the large building, Laura and Eva leading the way with Phil and Zain close behind.

* * *

**Review?**


	3. End of an Era?

**Colonel Sam Carter:** New name, I see? :) I got excited first off when I read 'Sam Carter' xD But the colonel part threw me so I supposed it wasn't the same 'Sam Carter' we're longing for ;) Hehe, thanks for the review babe! I could get used to writing it every day if I didn't get preoccupied with four hours 'naps' and school work. Teehee. Glad you like Zoe too :)  
**Rose Tyler611: **Cheers for the review! :) Glad you like Zoe's input, I was slightly worried that her just occasional few words wouldn't work, but it seems it has :) Lol, Laura is probably the most obvious but it's OK, I like it like that :) There's still plenty more surprises up my sleeves. Yay, creative, thanks :D  
**SaMaNdPhiL4eVeR: **Lol, its Zoe's detective instincts from her father kicking in with the tracking down girlfriends, and Evangeline was a Nanny McPhee moment – I'm such a saddo! :p I liked putting Zain in there, he _was_ a rather good character wasn't he? Shame he had to move on, same as Phil :( Glad you liked the name Laura, I was little hesitant seeing as there _is_ so many Laura's around here but I had Laura and two other names, dropped Laura and couldn't choose between the other two so just grabbed Laura in the end. Hehe. Awesome, hope you enjoy it! :) And thanks for the review, hun!  
**ihearthuxon:** Glad you liked the chapter and ta for reviewing! You're welcome; I'm a sucker for a nice picture :) Hehe.

As before, _**bold italics**_ represent Zoe and Phil in the present day.  
_Italics_ is Kelly on the other end of the phone. :]

_Evelyn Carnahan_

Always  
Three;

"_**So, was it a date?" Zoe asked, she now laid on top of the covers on her front. Her legs were crossed in the air behind her and her chin was resting on her hands as she looked up at her Dad.**_

"_**No, not a date, I was Kelly's boyfriend remember? And I'd only just met Laura." Phil said, shaking his head.**_

"_**Did you want it to be a date?" Zoe pressed.**_

"_**I don't know," Phil smiled mysteriously.**_

"_**So what happened next?..."**_

* * *

The cafe that Phil and Zain were led to by Laura and Eva was around the corner from corner from the Hendon Campus, it took them merely five minutes before they were entering the sea-themed cafe – which was ironic as the coast was miles away. Phil checked the menu and was thankful that the sea idea didn't stretch into the food, which was as regular as cafe's down where he'd grown up with his mum and brother. He sat next to Zain and across from the girls who all talked good-humouredly as they decided what they wanted to eat before Eva and Zain rose to make their orders.

With the other two's absence Phil and Laura made small talk; "So, how did you and Zain meet?"

"We share a dorm back on campus, sort of were thrown together and ended getting along." He smiled. "I suppose it's the same for you and Eva?"

"Oh no, I don't live on campus." Laura corrected.

"Oh?" He asked, interested for he knew London accommodation could be rather expensive.

"I live in a flat a few streets away." She admitted. "Eva and I know each other from college; she lives with her mum and younger sister near here."

"So I suppose it was good for you two, knowing each other already must have made the first day easier?" He asked and she nodded as Eva and Zain returned with glasses of coke and a bottle of water for Sam.

They returned to their seats and the four of them began their conversation up again, talking about what they thought of their lecturer Seymour and the teams they were a part of. A waitress arrived carrying two plates at a time and set them down before leaving them to it, they ate in companionable silence one of them occasionally making small talk and once they'd eaten their fill left a shared bill on the table and walked out of the cafe, they said their goodbyes before Laura and Eva walked off in one direction and Phil made his way back to Hendon with Zain.

Once back in their dorm room, Phil picked up the large phone that resembled a brick from the desk by the door and checked it for messages. There were six, all from Kelly. Zain sat on his bed and winced as he heard the hysterical recorded messages playing loudly from the telephone, each one getting worse than the one before. The shouting suddenly stopped at the quiet dial tone cut through the piercing silence before Zain rolled on his bed, in stitches.

"I didn't realise she had you on such a tight leash!" He exclaimed, tears of laughter clouding his eyes.

"Oh shut up." Phil glowered at him before punching in Kelly's phone number and waiting for her to pick up.

"_Phil? Phil, is that you?!"_

"Yes Kelly, it's me babe." Phil sighed.

"_Where have you been?! I've been worried sick; I've been trying to ring you _all_ afternoon!"_

"Sorry, I've been caught up in lectures." Phil lied and Zain smirked at him so Phil grabbed the pillow from behind him and threw it at Zain's head who ducked, sniggering. Phil glared at him and Zain took it as his cue to leave the room.

"_What, all afternoon?"_

"Yes Kelly, all afternoon. It's pretty busy here; it's not just a walk in the park. Every single person here wants to become a police officer; I'm in competition with everyone. Can you understand that?" He asked hoping she did else he'd be grovelling for a long time.

"_Yeah I suppose so, I just miss you so much baby."_

"I miss you too," Phil said but he felt emotionless as he said it and he began to worry, did he not really love her?"I've got to go Kelly, I need to um ... do some research for tomorrow. First day and they're already giving us research work to do, crazy eh? Anyway, I'll ring you tomorrow."

"_Promise?"_

"Promise." He confirmed.

"_Love you babe."_

"You too."

* * *

**Review?  
Definitely my shortest chapter so far.  
Sorry about that but I had to finish it before I lost the plot completely.  
:]**


	4. Dangerous Dad's

**Colonel Sam Carter: **Thanks for the review hun! I weren't too sure about that chapter. I think it's the lamest so far but I didn't want to mention it until I got at least one review :p Phil and "Laura" could have gotten to know each other more, but heck, not knowing each other is what is going to put the kinks into their relationship. Hehe. See there's always means – however evil – to an end. ;) Haha, you'll have to wait and see on that one! Again, I may choose to be evil (evil laugh)  
**xXxLeahxXx:** Keep reading and you'll find out! Glad that you "love it" and cheers for your review! :)  
**tatyiana123: **Ta for the review! Zain was a good character so I had to throw him in; his friendship with Phil was really nice :) I miss that, shame they both left, they were both a bit of buff ;)

_Evelyn Carnahan_

Always  
Four;

_**By this time, Zoe was laying in her bed again with a carton of juice that Phil had got for her. He now sat on a stool that was much too small for him at the side of her bed, also slurping noisily from a carton of juice. **_

"_**Where were we?" Zoe asked. "Oh yeah, Kelly was on the phone to you and you weren't sure whether you still loved her."**_

"_**Well, for six months nothing really happened. Me, Zain, Eva and Laura became good friends, the cafe became our usual hang out spot, as Seymour said we worked in the same groups since the beginning of term, every other day I would ring Kelly to see how she was and every other weekend I would go back home to visit your Gran, Uncle Steve and Kelly." Phil told her after swallowing the mouthful of juice that was slowly becoming warmer.**_

"_**Huh," she simply said, processing the information. "So you and Laura weren't an item then?"**_

"_**No, not then. We **_**did**_** share a brief, drunk kiss at New Years though." He told her.**_

"_**Woah, I thought you said nothing really happened! Tell me **_**everything!"**_** She demanded in an excitable way.**_

"_**Well basically we were at the campus having a New Years Eve party which was on the top floor, it was hot on the hallway so Laura went to the roof which was like a cage with tall iron bars so nobody could jump off when drunk or something stupid like that. Anyway, after a few minutes I checked on her to see how she was and she was just coming off the phone, we stood talking and she shivered so I put my arm around her and that's when I realised they were doing the countdown downstairs. One came at last and somehow we ended up kissing, Big Ben was chiming on a TV set somewhere and fireworks were going off but I didn't hear any of it really, I was just caught up in the moment."**_

"_**Fireworks, Big Ben, caught up in the moment? Oh, how romantic!" Zoe breathed out, dazedly.**_

"_**Well d'you want to know the **_**really**_** romantic part that happened next?" He asked, trying to keep a straight face.**_

"_**Yes!"**_

"_**Laura pulled back from the kiss, looked **_**deep**_** into my eyes, parted her lips ... and then threw up all over my shoes." Phil grinned as Zoe grimaced. "I teased her for about a month afterwards and she was always apologising, but I didn't mind too much to be honest. The kiss seemed to make up for it."**_

"_**And yet you two didn't get together then?" Zoe asked, her face crestfallen. **_

"_**No, we didn't." Phil admitted with a small sigh. **_

"_**Oh. Why not?"**_

**_"It was ... complicated, much more than I thought it would be. There were obstacles," Zoe opened her mouth angrily and Phil cut across her. "Not just Kelly! There were obstacles on her part as well as mine."_**

**_Zoe looked unhappy for a moment before shaking it off. "So when you say you four were 'good friends' d'you mean like best friends?"_**

"_**I suppose so; we all knew everything about each other." He sighed before adding; "At least, I thought we did..."**_

* * *

"No, you guys put your money away, I said this was my treat because Laura passed her first Psychology exam and I'm sticking with that." Phil stated, and Laura blushed with a grin as the others began applauding her once more. All students at Hendon had to take an extra option that would enhance their policing skills as well as their usual training lessons; the other three had all opted for Sport which was physical with a little bit of theory whereas Laura was in a small class of people who had taken Psychology. When applying for Hendon, Phil had looked at Psychology and had contemplated it but thought it was much too intimidating so had stuck with Sport which he'd always been good at in school and college.

"Ah crap," Eva suddenly said, looking at her watch.

"_**Hold it," Zoe cut in with a hand in the air.**_

"_**What?" Phil asked, surprised that she had interrupted him, she only usually did it if a name was needed.**_

"_**You said crap, you're going to have to add a pound to the swear jar." She said matter-of-factly.**_

_**Phil sighed; "Alright, but I may be broke by the end of this story."**_

_**Zoe giggled; "Carry on."**_

"What's up?" Zain asked her as Phil fished in his pocket and pulled his wallet out.

"I need to get going; I've got to look after my little sister whilst my mum goes to the doctors." Eva stood; "I've got to be back at my mum's in the next _five_ minutes."

Eva, who had moved out of her mum's house two months previously and into a flat with two friends from senior school, still lived relatively near so she could lend her single mum a hand as well as still socialise with her friends near the campus.

"I'll walk back with you," Laura said as she stood. "See you guys later."

"See ya," Eva said as they sidled out of the small booth and the boys either waved or gave a nod of the head before they walked out of the cafe. Phil put the cash for the food on the table, as was accustomed, before they too stood, he was about to follow Zain out of the cafe when he noticed a mobile phone on the seats opposite where he'd been sitting. He lent across the table and picked the mobile up before catching Zain up where he had paused a few feet away.

"That one's Laura's isn't it?" Zain asked as he looked it over.

"Yeah that's what I thought; I'll take it with me and then get her address from reception and go take it to her." He decided, his stomach flipping a little at the prospect of finding out where she lived. He was rather amazed that in the past six months they had never been to her home. The four of them had been in the boy's dorm room plenty of times and had spent some time at Eva's new place – although not her her mum's – but _never_ at Laura's.

"You sure that'll work, reception can't give information out like that can they?" Zain asked.

Phil grinned; "I'll just work the old Hunter magic, of course it'll work."

* * *

Zain sniggered from across the reception area as Phil tried to talk to the stony faced receptionist, Dora. Usually, the receptionist was a sexy brunette who had an eye for Phil and who carelessly flirted with him and was always flattered whenever he mentioned her choice of sophisticated outfits, but she didn't work on Friday's, Saturday's or Sunday's – much to Phil's dismay.

Dora was an aging squat woman who had tight, grey curls tucked behind her ears. Her mouth was a thin lipped, cracked line and her eyes were humourless, steel blue.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hunter," she said and her dry voice could have been mistaken for that of a man. "But rules are rules. I cannot give out such information that you require, it is my _duty_ to not pass on student's information to _anyone_."

Phil gulped before carrying on, hating himself for doing this. He lent on to the desk of the reception and flashed a heartbreaking smile; "Please? I wouldn't usually ask but it's important, really. You see my friend left her mobile in the cafe we were at and I must get it back to her, she's expecting important family phone calls. Her mum's due for labour over the weekend and if she misses the phone call then she misses the delivery, do you _really_ want that on your conscience?"

Dora raised an eyebrow at him, not taking the bait but the woman behind her looked thoroughly sympathetic and Phil cursed inside his head whilst wondering why_ that_ woman couldn't be on front desk?

He sighed as a few students walked into the Campus' reception, guiding their parents around the place as well as a few lecturers walked in, talking; it was well and truly time to pull out the big guns; "Oh come on Dora, I know I hurt you when I said goodbye," Phil began walking away from her to subtly address the crowd as everyone stopped and stared at him. "But I had to let you go, I wasn't man enough for you and I'm sorry. But please, don't stop my friend from getting her mobile back. Don't punish her, punish _me_, I deserve it more after all. I'm -"

"Get _here!_" Dora hissed at him and he happily obliged.

"Yes?"

"Alright, alright. I'll give you the goddamn address but you _dare _approach this reception whilst I'm working on it again and you'll regret it." Her eyes flashed dangerously and he gulped.

"Sure thing," he nodded. "Thanks."

She glared at him before turning around and sorting through the paperwork, the back of Phil's head was uncomfortably hot as he felt the eyes of the passerby's boring into him and he didn't dare turn around until the chat that had filled the reception before his outbreak started up again and the people began moving on. Dora scribbled on a piece of paper and slammed it down in front of him, barking; "Take it. _Go._"

Phil did as he was told and hurried back to Zain who was in stitches; he was bent over and gripping knees for support. "Oh shut it, I'm going to take Laura's mobile to her. Are you coming?"

"You're joking right?" Zain wheezed as he tried to gain his breath back. "I'm going upstairs to tell everyone."

Before Phil could stop him as he set off at a jog, still laughing as he went. Phil rolled his eyes; he would be a laughing stock by that evening.

* * *

Phil stood outside Flat 21b on the fourth floor of a retro looking apartment block, Phil knew it wasn't like the usual council estates he was used to from back home and wondered just how Laura managed to afford such a place? He checked the piece of paper Dora, he suppressed a violent shudder, had given him before knocking on the violet painted door. He stuffed the piece of paper into the jeans pocket that also housed the mobile and wiped his clammy palms on to his jeans, wondering whether she'd be angry when she found out that he'd found her address. He supposed she deserved her privacy; the more he thought about it the more he worried.

He was about to walk away because he thought there was no life beyond the door when he heard a jangle of keys in the lock and a bolt being pulled before it opened and revealed a dishevelled older looking man, his hair was dark grey and the white stubble on his chin gave him a rugged look. Phil supposed he had been quite handsome in his youth. He moved his oval rimmed glasses from the top of his head to his watery eyes and peered at Phil intently.

"Who're you?" he asked, his voice gruff.

"I'm Phil Hunter, friend of Laura's. She left her mobile in the cafe we were in and I thought I'd better come give it back to her." Phil replied.

"Huh, better come in then." The man turned and walked into the apartment, Phil followed him in and shut the door behind him before walking down a small hallway and into a lounge area. "She's out at the moment, gone down to the shops, I suppose she won't be long because she warned me that I'd better be dressed by the time she gets back."

Phil realised that the man was simply dressed in a pair of dark blue boxers, white, rolled down socks and a plain white shirt that stretched over a beer belly but not wanting to stare he adverted his gaze to his surroundings. From what he could see of the apartment, he saw that it was decorated artistically; it seemed Laura and this man – whoever he was – were both fairly creative. However the empty whiskey and vodka bottles that littered the room made Phil wonder whether this man was why Laura had never invited them back.

"Are you Laura's dad?" Phil asked as the man walked into a bedroom that was separated from the lounge by an empty doorway, he began making a bed albeit half heartedly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, course. I'm Laura's daddy." He grinned at Phil from where he was tucking the duvet in around the edges. He strode back into the lounge and puffed his chest out whilst extending his hand. "George, pleased to me you ... er, Paul?"

"Phil." He corrected whilst shaking the man's hand, he played along despite knowing the man was mocking him as George walked away, wheezing with laughter. Phil supposed it was the whiskey and vodka talking so didn't take it to heart but he hoped Laura would arrive soon.

Phil shifted from one foot to the other as George disappeared and then returned moments later holding two glasses and a fresh bottle of whiskey. "Sit, sit."

Phil did as he was told and eyed the whiskey bottle worriedly, he had sport in half an hour and couldn't be late nor be smelling of booze. George sat on a two piece sofa in front of a coffee table and set the bottle and glasses down, he poured two large measures into the glasses and spilled some; "Oops, don't worry if Laura asks I'll say the cat did it."

"You have a cat?" Phil inquired, hoping to distract George from the alcohol.

"Oh yeah, that thing died didn't it?" George asked himself whilst scratching his rough chin. "Oh well," he grinned. "I'll think of something."

He passed Phil the glass and he took it wearily, whilst watching George as he lent across for his own glass but he missed it completely and slipped, his head hit the coffee table with a smack and he landed with a thud on the floor, unconscious. Phil froze with panic, his heart hammering as a pool of blood seeped from George's head wound and on to the wooden floor, then his heart skipped a beat entirely when there was the unmistakable sound of a door opening and shutting; "I'm back!"

* * *

**Review?  
It was a nice long one for you's  
with hopefully a tad bit of humour :)**


	5. Cosmopolitan Sexiest Male

Damn it, I swore to myself that I wouldn't start revisiting all my old fics – it would be Hysteria and only Hysteria - but the combination of feeling poorly plus feeling completely psyched because I go on holiday in three days! _Plus _thinking about the film/this fic and _really_ wanting some utter fluff means here I am, actually updating 'Always'.

Now the first time round this was embraced _really_ well and I was probably at the peak of my writing stage because I had really nice reviews which I really appreciated, I just hope this time round can be the same and I haven't lost any readers. You all know you're dear to me for your support and feedback so fingers crossed :)

Anyway, I'm gonna start Blink 182 up now to keep me going and write till my fingers blister :)

_Izzi Creo_

"**Always"**

"_**No way," Zoe whispered; her eyes wide in shock as she looked at her father who nodded.**_

"_**Yep, I'm afraid so. I was stood in a panic whilst George was lying on the floor unconscious and bleeding whilst Laura was walking down the hallway towards us. I truly believed that was it, that Laura wouldn't want us to share a friendship anymore." Phil told his daughter, he scratched the back of his neck, frowning, "But, she actually reacted completely different to how I thought she would, when she walked into the lounge she was more shocked to see me standing there than George on the floor."**_

"_**Really?" Zoe asked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.**_

"_**Really."**_

_**

* * *

**_

Laura stood in the doorway, shopping bags in each hand, staring at George who still lay on the floor as Phil stood with the glass of whiskey George had poured him in his hand, his heart thud against his chest uncomfortably as Laura merely shook her head and sighed at the sight of her intoxicated father on the floor. She looked up and jumped back in shock when she saw Phil.

"Erm ... hi." He said lamely as he felt a crimson blush spread across his cheeks.

"Hi." She said, frowning. "Er, what are you doing here?"

Phil sighed; "Funny story actually; you see you left your mobile at the cafe so I picked it up and got your address off of the receptionist at Hendon –" he missed out the embarrassing flirting he'd endured with Dora "- and they gave me the address to this place, only you weren't here, George was. He offered me a drink – which I don't want, by the way – before reaching for his own and he slipped and banged his head and I'm so sorry." Phil finished in a rush.

Laura laughed a little; "Calm down, its fine. George is always doing this."

She dropped the bags of shopping on the table before pulling George up and onto the sofa where he rolled over and snored softly, she rolled her eyes. "Bloody drunk fool." She picked the shopping up again and took it through a door which Phil assumed was the kitchen before calling to him; "I'm sorry you had to endure him on your own."

"It's alright," Phil called back.

Laura returned, shopping free, with a first aid kit which she dropped on to the table for later. She pointed at the whiskey glass still in Phil's hand; "Did you say you didn't want that?"

"Oh, yeah." Phil said before handing it to her, he expected her to take it out to the kitchen also but instead she drained it in one large gulp before setting it also on the table. Sam caught him staring and laughed; "What? You never see a girl drink before?"

"Oh no, sorry." Phil muttered, averting his gaze. Somehow, being around Laura in her home made his feel like a naughty schoolboy all over again. Despite being a few months younger than him she was sophisticated in a way which he found incredibly sexy and her mannerisms made her seem beyond her nineteen years, he swallowed remembering his girlfriend, Kelly.

"It's OK, I'm sure drinking in the middle of the day is strange to you." Laura shrugged before sitting on the end of the sofa George was sprawled across.

"Well no, I suppose you picked your drinking habits up from your dad." Phil guessed with a shrug, sitting also in the armchair and thinking it seemed to make sense for the father and daughter before him who weren't similar in any other way, not even in looks, to share daytime drinking habits.

"My dad?" She asked, frowning. "What's my dad got to do with this?"

"Well y'know, George is an alcoholic so you've probably grown up around him drinking during the day so you've picked up some habits from him. It's not abnormal; a lot of people do the same things their parents do." Phil shrugged; he hadn't meant to offend her.

"Parents?" She asked, her frown increasing as she looked at the slumbering, older man before a grin broke out on her features and she laughed. "Is that what he told you? He said he was my dad?"

"Well yeah, I mean if he's _not_ your dad then who –" Phil cut off mid sentence, his eyes had fallen on to the empty archway that led to the bedroom where one large, double bed lay and although there could have been another bedroom within the flat Phil doubted there was, too much seemed to make sense this was around and the realisation seemed to hit Phil like a bucket of ice cold water. "Oh. _Oh."_

"George ... isn't my father." Laura said. "George ... is my boyfriend."

"_**No!"**_

Phil couldn't help himself from snorting and Laura even gave a small smiled before correcting herself; "OK, he's my _partner_." At Phil's raised eyebrows she narrowed her eyes and asked; "Have you ever been with a sexagenarian?"

"Well no." Phil replied. _'That's not what some of your lecturers think.' _A voice in the back of his head told him but he pushed it away, now was not the time to think about – he suppressed another shudder – Dora.

"Well then you can't really judge." She told him simply. "George and I are happy together."

"I don't mean to judge," Phil apologised.

"It was a shock?" She asked knowingly.

"Yeah," he admitted. "_So_, is he usually drunk?"

Laura laughed. "Not _all_ the time. You'd be surprised; when he's not drunk he's a genius."

"Oh yeah?" Phil asked.

"Yeah," she rubbed his leg whilst watching him sleep before looking up, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. "_Phil, _you do know who he is right?"

Phil shrugged. "George?"

Laura laughed; "He's George Cleveland, the author of the Deadly Sins series. Y'know the psychological thriller books about the seven deadly sins."

"No kidding!" Phil asked, caught between shock and admiration. "I love the books. I can't believe I didn't recognise him as the author."

Laura smiled at him. "You read all of the four so far? Brilliant aren't they."

"_Yeah_, I mean they keep me captivated." Phil smiled.

"Same."

"So how did you two meet?" Phil asked.

"My real dad is George's publisher, he mentioned to him one day that I was a college graduate who was taking psychology at Hendon and George offered me private tuition." Laura shrugged. "He was probably after _more_ than a student from the beginning but I didn't mind, it was all pretty flattering."

"You really love him," Phil stated.

"I do." Laura smiled.

"Kind of makes sense," he shrugged.

"What does?" Laura asked, tilting her head to the side in an entirely interested fashion.

"Well, I can easily see how someone as sophisticated and classy as yourself would need someone like George to satisfy you." Phil told her, thinking about _all_ the ways George could 'satisfy' her.

"I'm glad you understand," Laura smiled. "Did you know he was ranked highly in the 'Cosmopolitan' sexiest male contest recently?"

"No, but it's quite an achievement for a sixty-two year old." Phil said, attempting to sound pleasant. "I suppose it was more his sexual analysing books that got him noticed rather than the thrillers."

"More than likely," Laura replied with a roll of the eyes before smiling proudly at George as he continued sleeping; "They said he was distinguished and rugged; I couldn't agree more."

"That's great."

"No," Laura laughed. "What was great was reading the article and thinking; 'I'm the one getting that'."

Phil joined in with Laura's laughter, it was real due to him being amused at her joke but at the same time fake because he didn't want to think of Laura and George together 'getting that'. When the laughing stopped Laura's eyes flitted to the clock on the wall before a crease wound its way between her eyebrows, she turned back to Phil her head tilting to the side again and inquired; "Don't you have sport in less than five minutes?"

"I do," Phil sighed. "I'm going to be late regardless but I better get going anyway."

He stood and Laura followed. "I'll see you out."

She picked up a simple-bounded, heavy book off of the coffee table as she followed Phil out of the living room and down the hallway to the front door, he pulled it open and was about to step out when she held the book out. "Here, you can have this."

"What is it?" Phil asked.

"A manuscript for George's new book, I already have one so I thought you'd like this one." She gave a small shrug and smiled warmly.

"Brilliant, thanks." Phil gushed, thankful.

"You're welcome; just don't leak it on the internet or anything."

"I won't," Phil laughed his promise, he turned towards the doorway as though this was their parting comment. "Which deadly sin is it?"

"Lust."

Phil shivered, she'd lent up to whisper the word in his ear and the tickle of her breath had spread down his neck and back like wildfire. He turned back to her, she was biting her lip and her eyes were sparkling, suddenly a thought occurred to him and he blurted out; "Why did you kiss me? ... I mean, New Years Eve, you kissed me on the rooftop and I was just wondering, what with your boyfriend and all, why did you do it?"

"George encourages me to embrace my curiosity," she told him and smiled. "I was curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," he flirted back before wincing at how lame it sounded, he found he couldn't look her in the eye as soon as the words tumbled from his dry lips.

"That it did," she smiled.

"See ya," he turned to leave but she called him back. "Yes?"

"_Uh,_ remember why you came here?" She asked and he looked at her dumbly, it felt like he was in an exam where there was a question he should definitely know the answer to but it had escaped him, he desperately tried to think but there was so much that he'd absorbed that afternoon that he couldn't think straight.

"My phone," she prompted.

"Oh, yeah!" He dug into his pocket and pulled the mobile out before handing it to her. "Here."

"Thanks Phil," she smiled and he noticed a small amount of pity within her eyes.

He turned around and walked away, closing his eyes for a brief second, why had he been so uncool? It weren't like they were meeting for the first time; it just seemed that with George around her sexual confidence rose dramatically and it pushed him offguard. The front door clicked again but not before he heard the call; "_Laaauuuura, Daddy's got a big surpriiiiiise for you!" _

For the first time in Phil's life he was jealous of a man much older than him because _he _had a girl Phil wanted.

* * *

**_Phil sighed; "You know it felt like a very strange world at that point Zoe. I was, possibly, in love with a woman who was not only taken, but taken by a man who was triple my age and _then_ some."_**

_**Zoe looked grumpy, sat with her covers pulled up around her. **_"_**But it's not fair, I thought Laura sounded like a really good mum but she'd not even your girlfriend." Zoe sighed.**_

"_**Hey, don't worry kiddo, there's still another seven years yet until you were born!" Phil told her.**_

"_**Seven years?" Zoe produced a low whistle. "We're gonna be here for a while."**_

"_**No kidding," Phil said looking sceptical. "Maybe we should leave it for tonight."**_

"_**No way!" Zoe protested. "Now c'mon continue."**_

_**Phil sighed thinking his demanding daughter would keep him up all night if she had to. "OK..."**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Review? :)  
**


	6. A Typical Weekend

**Maaaan, I'm on a fricken roll!  
Once I updated I began typing again which, I have to say, is making me feel un-fricken-believable! God, don't you just **_**love**_** fluff?! :)  
And seeing as Vikki asked me _very_ nicely, I thought why the hell not? I will update again before going on holiday so, on that note I should be telling you that I won't be updating for the next two weeks at least as I'm going on holiday tomorrow (WOO!) but I will try and jott something down as soon as I get back! :)**

**Right, some points I missed out in my last authors note because it was already too long;**

**I read on wiki that the Hendon course is only 25 weeks long but that ain't **_**nearly**_** enough so I've stretched it to breaking point and now they stay there for two years, lol, I know kinda drastic but hey-ho! :) Hope that don't peeve anyone too much but c'mon, it **_**is**_** fanfic after all :)**

_Izzi Creo_

"**Always"**

Phil found it hard to concentrate on the fact he had a girlfriend who loved him when he was constantly thinking about Laura and her sex-manic, sixty-two year old lover who could easily have been her grandfather. So when every other weekend arrived and he found himself sat on the tube train which would take him straight to the borough where his family lived on the other side of London, he was glad for the change of scenery and, more importantly, change of people. He knew Kelly would be waiting on the platform for him to arrive home and, although he used to find it downright annoying and clingy for he preferred to spend quality time with his family alone before spending time with her, he had come to appreciate Kelly waiting as it meant she would take his mind away from Laura immediately.

The only problem with his plan was that he hadn't counted on Kelly gossiping non-stop at a rapid 100 miles per hour about the salon she worked in, in which he could only catch the odd word whilst longing he was back on campus. But thinking about being back on campus, brought Laura back so he swallowed and allowed his mind to go numb from Kelly's babble.

They got to the block of council flats his mum and brother lived in and Phil blundered up them two at a time eager to see his family whilst Kelly carefully stepped up one at a time at a slow, snail crawl due to her snakeskin print stilettos which she could hardly walk, let alone run, in. When she finally made it to Phil's mum flat which had the door wide open for her, it was to find Phil in a tight hug with his mum, Lynne, before clapping his brother, Steve on the shoulder. He dumped the duffel bag he'd been carrying in the room which was still his before being ushered into the lounge by his mum who insisted on him putting his feet up and simply relaxing, Phil smiled to himself and waited for the usual routine to begin.

Kelly walked over to where he sat on the sofa and sat beside him, snuggling into his side as he wrapped his arm around her. Lynne took her usual armchair and fired questions at her eldest son about how his life had been since the last time she'd seen him merely two weeks ago, Phil always smiled thinking that the way she spoke it was as though he'd been lost on a desert island for years. Meanwhile, Steve sat in the remaining arm chair by the TV and pretended to be watching the quiet set whilst really listening to his brother talking about Hendon and deciding whether he wanted to follow in his brothers footsteps and also join the police force.

Once sure she'd squeezed all of the information out of Phil – or at least as much as he would give – Lynne would then go into the kitchen and cook whilst Phil canoodled with Kelly to pass the time before the grub his mum had put together was done. Lynne insisted that family meals were just that so they always had to eat together in the small, box of a dining room they had which was away from the distractions of the TV. Although he often half heartedly complained about it, Phil actually enjoyed spending mealtimes with his family as it always meant they could catch up with things they'd missed. He politely inquired about how Steve was getting on at school whilst ignoring the way Kelly was stroking his thigh as well as fighting against the mental images her hand threw up of Laura stroking George's leg so lovingly when he had first met George.

Following dinner Phil excused himself and Kelly, claiming he needed to unpack his stuff and, although Lynne knew Phil's belongings were never needlessly unpacked and repacked, she never said anything so Phil and Kelly were free to as they pleased and as soon as Phil had Kelly pressed against his bedroom wall, all thoughts of Laura slipped his mind. Phil devoured Kelly's mouth as they removed each other's clothes and she threw herself on the bed, giving Phil a decent view of her curvy body and demanding he gave her exactly what she wanted.

* * *

When morning arrived and the couple had had only a few hours sleep after their frantic, constant love-making, Kelly would give Phil a kiss before slipping out to work in the salon for the morning and Phil would return to his pleasant dreams, completely exhausted.

Phil would always have Sunday Lunch with his family before catching the tube at three so he could return to the campus at a decent time and finish – or in many cases start – any assignments he'd been given to do over the weekend, this strict time schedule meant he didn't see Kelly at all on Sundays except when she said goodbye to him in the morning and although it made him feel like a pretty lousy boyfriend, he was actually extremely glad. There was only so much of Kelly a person could handle, and for him, it was a single day.

When he returned to his dorm room it was to find Eva sat on Zain's bed reading a bunch of notes Phil had seen Zain scribbling down furiously earlier in the week and Laura sat on his bed, leaning against the wall with her headphones in. Her eyes were shut and she was miming along with the lyrics whilst her feet, which only just hung off the bed, tapped midair to the rhythm. Steam poured from under the crack in the closed door to the bathroom and the sound of the ridiculously loud shower filled the whole room so he guessed Zain had actually let the girls in and they hadn't just broken in for no reason.

"Hey," Phil said to which Eva's head shot up.

"Hi, did you know the essays Seymour set for us are due in tomorrow?" She asked.

"Oh _yeah_," Phil replied.

"Have you finished it? Because these are Zain's notes and he's finished as has Laura but I completely forgot and haven't even started yet." Eva asked, looking desperate.

Phil instantly realised that on closer inspection you could see the frantic, wild look in her eyes and the ponytail her hair was usually pulled into was messy with wisps of hair falling out, Phil felt sorry for her right away. "Well I've got to put the last paragraph on but yeah, I'm pretty much finished."

"Oh god, I'm going to fail." Eva complained.

"No you won't," Phil reassured.

"I told you Eva," Laura's voice piped up although her position stayed exactly the same just without the miming and foot tapping."Just use Zain's notes to start it and then tomorrow, if you're still not done, take a sick day and finish it. Then on Tuesday, tell him you were really ill so couldn't come let alone hand your work in and just give it to him right away. That way Seymour can't complain." She finally opened her eyes and smiled. "Hey Phil."

"Hi," he replied, wondering how long she'd known he was there. Since he'd begun talking? Or worse, had she seen him hovering in the doorway as he arrived and took time to study the two women, her in particular. He turned back to the matter at hand. "It's a good idea, Eva."

"Yeah," Eva agreed despite looking thoroughly unconvinced. "_So_ good that a quarter of the class are probably planning on doing _exactly_ the same thing."

"Nah," Laura grinned, eyes shut again. "They're not smart enough for that."

Eva sighed; "OK, I'll do it. But only this once OK? From now on I do my work as soon as I get it and hand it in on time, if not earlier."

"Right," Laura said. "I'll hold you to that."

"I need a drink," Eva decided as she pulled herself up from the bed. "All this stressing out and worrying has gotten me thirsty."

"I'll come with you," Phil said, there was something he wanted to ask her.

They set off out of the dorm, down to the canteen, bought drinks and were on their way back up when Phil mustered the courage to finally ask. "Hey Eva?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you know about George, Laura's boyfriend?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, I did. When did you find out?" Eva asked.

"A while back. So, how come no one ever told me? Well, me or Zain?" Phil asked, amending his sentence at the end.

"Well, it's not like Laura's embarrassed of George because she isn't, far from it, she's actually madly in love with him. She just doesn't want the hassle; she gets so much grief because of him from her family, you see." Eva explained.

"Why's that?" Phil asked.

"Well her parents claim he doesn't love her, he's just after a young girlfriend which is true – to an extent – and Laura _knows _this, she just doesn't need it force fed to her every five minutes." Eva shrugged.

"True?" Phil asked. "How d'you mean?"

"George Cleveland is _notorious_ for having younger girlfriends as well as a large sexual appetite so Laura's parents think Laura is just another 'fantasy lover' and that it'll fade within a year when she's twenty, seemingly past it and he's found someone younger." Eva said. "And I mean, to be honest, Laura's said herself that yes, that _could_ happen but she's happy with George and she would rather be with him and wait for her time to come than not be with him so they're both alone and miserable. Which I can understand."

"Hang on; but _neither_ of them _would_ be alone or miserable. You _just_ said yourself that George is notorious for having younger women so he'd quickly find someone and let's face it, Laura's a pretty girl, she'd find someone worthy pretty quickly also." Phil counter-argued.

"They're her reasons, not mine." Eva shrugged. "And I respect them."

"So anyway," he moved on. "You said it was only true to an extent, how's that?"

"Well out of _all_ the women George Cleveland has ever been out with, he's only _ever_ lived with Laura which clearly states something. I don't know though. I _think_, in a way, it's inevitable that they'll break up but there's clearly something about Laura, I think she's left him stupefied and she _definitely_ holds his heart, even if he won't let her hold the rest of him forever."

"And do you think she'll love him for always?" Phil asked.

"Oh _absolutely." _Eva said, completely convinced.

"Well what if she finds the right guy, y'know someone amazing for her and she falls in love with him? Surely that'll knock George out of the window?" Phil questioned desperately trying to hold on to a hope he knew he shouldn't have as he had his girlfriend, Kelly.

"She could be on the verge of saying 'I do' but we _both_ know as soon as George calls, she'll go running." Eva said as though it was totally fine for Laura to somewhat waste her life away on a man who loved but didn't cherish her.

"She may realise George isn't actually the right man for her." Phil decided, more to help himself than to argue with Eva.

"The right man, what? Someone like you?" Eva asked, laughing.

"_No._" Phil scoffed before his eyes swivelled around nervously, looking at anything but Eva who stopped walking with an expression which was a mixture of shock and pure delight.

"Oh my _god_. You _like_ her! That's what this is all about!" Eva exclaimed her voice suddenly hushed as she pulled Phil to the side of the deserted corridor, forcing him to face her.

"No!" He said desperately before caving in. "OK, fine, _yes_ I do, happy now?"

"Ec_static!"_ Eva grinned. "Blimey Phil, since when?"

"Sine you two first walked into the class, I saw her and I just – _wow." _He breathed, unable to describe it any other way. "I _know_ I have Kelly but every time I'm with her I'm simply pointing out the many ways how she isn't Laura and it's driving me _insane!_ You gotta help me."

"Oh mate," Eva sighed. "I wish I could, you know I do but seeing as it doesn't look like Laura's going to dump George anytime soon, it looks like this infatuation you have with her is gonna lead you nowhere. I'm sorry."

Phil shrugged; "It's cool, I've kept it in well so far, I can just keep it all in."

"I suppose, as long as it doesn't affect all of our friendship then everyone'll be fine."

"Eva, all this time you've been oblivious and the friendship hasn't changed so trust me, I think it'll stay the same." Phil laughed.

"Alright, I trust you." She smiled. "We better be getting back before they wonder where we've been."

"Yeah," Phil agreed realising how much they'd dawdled as they'd talked, in many ways he was glad she now knew though, he felt like a burden had been lifted and seeing as she was Laura's closest friend he hoped that if George and Laura _did_ break up then Eva could put in a good but subtle word for him.

* * *

"_**That Eva sounds like a good friend." Zoe said, nodding to herself.**_

"_**She was," Phil smiled. "A really good friend."**_

"_**Are you not friends with her anymore?"**_

"_**No, I lost contact with her as I did with most people throughout my life, your mother, whichever one she is, included." Phil explained.**_

"_**Do you miss her? Mum, I mean." Zoe asked.**_

_**He shrugged; "Well I don't know which one she is, do I?"**_

"_**Well either of these women, d'you miss any of them?" Zoe questioned.**_

"_**Yeah," Phil sighed thinking back to the times he'd spent with them and the love he'd felt. "I do. I miss them all in different ways though, some more than others."**_

"_**Which ones?" Zoe enquired, biting her bottom lip.**_

_**Phil sniffed lightly; "We gonna get on with this story or what?"**_

"_**OK," Zoe smiled happily pretending to go along although she knew full well it had been a distraction, she had a feeling it upset her dad thinking about the women, or at least one of them and she wondered whether he still loved any of them.**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Review? :)  
In this chapters opening I tried to subtly move the fic forward a few months  
****however it might have been **_**too**_** subtle lol, so basically, this chapter was on a few months in the retelling story world :)**


	7. Intense Physical Strain

Sweet Jesus! It is exactly a year to the day since I last updated this, seeing as one year ago I went to Tenerife (sob, how I miss ye) and I updated the day before leaving.  
I didn't even know earlier when I began reading this fic with the intention of writing that it was, but hey ho!  
So, a two week break ended up knocking the muse out of me yet here I am, back - yet again, with the intention to not only update this fic but also to FINISH it. (Dun, dun, dun!)  
Thank you to the people in the pass year who have sent me little nudges, asking for updates, the guilt finally got too much to bare so here we are now.

Hopefully, I'll still have you rapt attention :)

Big thanks to Colonel Sam Carter, SaMaNdPhiL4eVeR and iheartsergeantsmith for reviewing the last chapter!

_Izzi Creo_

"**Always"**

"_**Now, contrary to what you might be thinking, misses. It wasn't all about relationships and having fun at Hendon, there was a loo-oot of hard work involved." Phil told his daughter, who snorted.**_

"_**You? Hard work? I don't think so."**_

"_**Oi cheeky!" Phil laughed. "I don't mean writing wise, we only had two major essays to write for Seymour every six months. But the physical strain? Each lesson we had practical team based exercises, as well as Zain's, Eva's and my extra sport lessons. But despite this, we coped. Well in fact, better than other people."**_

"_**How d'you mean?" Zoe asked.**_

"_**Well, in in the beginning of our second year the training became even more intense and people began dropping out."**_

_**

* * *

**_

"As police officers, you need to remain in top physical fitness," Seymour said to the class one afternoon as they sat within their lecture hall. "If you're unfit to chase a criminal, then you're unfit to become a police officer.

'I've come across people before who assume they'll get into CID and leave all the running to those in uniform. These people are, frankly, deluded. In order to get into CID you must start at the bottom. And the bottom, requires running." Seymour said loudly. "Even, as a member of CID you will be required to run, though maybe not as much. But in general, in order to be a police officer you must be capable of putting yourself under an enormous amount of physical pressure."

"Easy for him to say, he's an officer who spends all his time teaching." Zain muttered to Phil who grinned.

"Which is why," Seymour continued, apparently not hearing them. "I have booked the outside training grounds for us to use this afternoon, each team will take it in turns to complete a circuit. This will include; a flexibility test, an upper body test, a jumping test and finally, to round it all off, the progressive shuttle run test."

There was a deep groan which rippled throughout the room.

"'Progressive Shuttle Run Test'?" Eva asked.

"Also known as 'Bleep Test'." Laura replied to which Eva's face fell.

_**Zoe shuddered; "I hate the bleep test."**_

"_**You're not the only one," Phil replied darkly.**_

* * *

The training grounds were large and on the east side of the Hendon building, they included a large football pitch for recreational purposes with a running track around the outside. A small assault course as well as a few tennis courts, also for recreational purposes, to the left of the pitch. Looking over the football pitch and running track was a set of tiered seating which the class sat upon, ignoring the damp seats.

Seymour shouted names and the first group began their training; the flexibility test consisted of sit and reach, as well as shoulder over and under tests. The upper body test took place near the assault course on the monkey bars, with chin ups before push ups with a minimum twenty five and maximum fifty. Most people in the group reached around forty whilst a couple of others pushed themselves further.

Phil turned to his group; Laura sat beside him whilst Billy Joe, Heather and Ali sat behind them. "Hey guys, look, we're meant to be a team right?"

"Yeah," Heather said.

"So I say, we do this together, OK?"

"How d'you mean?" Ali asked.

"Well we encourage each other, reach a good number on things. With these chin up and push ups, the decent kind of number is forty. So why don't we encourage each other to get to forty, then if we decide, as a group, to carry on then we will?" Phil suggested.

"Sounds like a good bit of team work to me," Laura said.

"What d'you say, babe?" Ali asked, turning to Heather whom he was now in a relationship with.

"Yeah, that's a good idea Phil. Billy?" Heather asked.

"Yeah sure," Billy Joe replied with a vacant, vague smile.

The group exchanged a look, they knew Billy didn't want to be on the course any more than when he first started and even though they got on well with him and he they, they pitied him and wished he wasn't being subjected to doing a job he disliked so much.

After the chin ups, it went on to a jumping test consisting of the standard vertical jump which had to be above fourteen inches ("Brilliant," Laura groaned. "I've only got little legs!") and the long jump before the dreaded beep test. The first group did well, with some outshining others and when they sat back down, each massaging aching muscles, Seymour called the next group.

"Hunter, Hammond, McClare, Cusack and ... Laura."

_**"Damn, I thought you'd say her last name there." Zoe grumbled to which Phil winked.**_

"Good luck," Eva grinned before the group walked towards the beginning of the test. The flexibility test was going to be the less strenuous part, it began with them doing some simple stretches to warm their bodies and importantly their muscles up before starting the sit and reaches. At the flexibility tests, Laura was clearly the better of them, the small body being well limbered as she shone through.

After the shoulder tests, they moved towards the monkey bars and began the chin ups. They all felt the strain, although Phil and Ali had an easier time considering the main bulk of their bodies was in there forearms. Ali's biceps in particularly seemed to be protruding and they had a laugh at him whilst doing their exercises. It was then they realised, why did it have to be such a morbid affair? They could do the tests to the best of their abilities whilst also having fun and so banter soon ensued, which took their minds off their bodies which began to protest to the strenuous physical activity.

It was also most hard to feel their muscles creaking in annoyance as their laughter rang out loudly, soon they'd gotten through all of the tests, including the push ups where they'd been actively encouraging Billy Joe to make it to forty with them, until they were on their final. The dreaded bleep test.

It started easy enough, slow at first with them taking a leisurely jog between the two points and remaining well within the time limit. The bleep test was the only one where the banter couldn't help and they couldn't rely on the others to encourage them and pull them through, Billy Joe gave up after the forth beep complaining of a stitch and Seymour eyed him beadily before writing on a clipboard he held in his hand. Laura began to feel the strain around eight, although considerably fit, her physique was a lot smaller than the others (Phil and Ali were both muscular whilst Heather was also built very sportily, having played football and hockey a lot as a child). At a healthy 9.6 Laura left the test to which Seymour smiled briefly at her before focusing his attention back to the remaining runners.

Heather dropped out at 10.3 leaving just Ali and Phil going, they'd both broken out in a sweat and the way they kept catching each others eye and chuckling breathlessly showed that it had turned into a bit of healthy competition. Phil finally gave up at 12.8 leaving Ali to run alone who finally gave up on the fourteenth bleep.

Phil, who'd been cheering him on from the side laughed as Ali high fived him with a grin. "You're getting old, man."

"Never," Phil grinned. "You're just showing off."

Ali winked before walking over to Heather and throwing his arm around her, Phil rejoined Laura on the seats where they sat and watched Zain and Eva's group start their course. When they finally finished, Seymour spoke a few words where he congratulated them all and told them they'd do that every month from then on and he hoped to see a significant improvement by the end of the year before they graduated as officers.

"You can all go," he said. "Well done for today."

All feeling suddenly tired, they began to traipse back towards Hendon where Phil thought longingly of having a shower before curling up in bed and doing nothing more than sleeping until morning. However his plan was interrupted when Billy Joe turned to him and the rest of his group who were stood around and said; "I'd like to talk to all of you, privately. As soon as possible."

Laura looked concerned; "Well seeing as we're all here, how about now?"

"We can go grab a drink in the cafeteria and sit in there together." Ali offered.

"Thanks," Billy Joe said, vague once more.

Laura exchanged a look with Phil before they excused themselves from Zain and Eva who were also frowning and followed their group towards the cafeteria rather than to their rooms or home. Despite the extortionate prices for food in the cafeteria, the drinks were fairly priced and they all got ice cold bottles of water before sitting with Billy Joe in a quiet corner.

"So…?" Heather began, breaking the silence.

"I um, I've decided, like right just now." Billy began before faltering. "Look, I'm sorry to let the group down but I'm not cut out to be a police officer. I'm not good at it, I don't want to be it. Don't get me wrong, I tried, _really_ tried to enjoy being here but I just … can't. I've decided to resign from the course, I'll go talk to Seymour in a moment and I'll tell him that it's got nothing to do with you guys - you were all great." He smiled, perhaps the first genuine smile they'd seen from him. "Thanks, for trying so hard to help me enjoy it here, but I just can't."

"Billy it's OK," Laura smiled. "If this isn't what you want, then it's not what you want. You need to do something that makes you happy and if this isn't it, then so be it."

"Thanks," Billy smiled at her before rising. "I'll go talk to Seymour now. We may not ever see each other again, so thanks for being my friends and for trying to help me. Bye."

Billy walked away and they sat in a stunned silence for a moment before Ali broke it, looking apologetic. "I don't mean to sound rude, but we've got to go. I've booked reservations for Heather and myself and we've got to get ready."

"That's fine," Phil smiled. "Go, have fun."

They walked together, hand in hand, out of the cafeteria leaving Laura and Phil sat on opposite sides of the table alone. "Wow," she breathed.

"Wow indeed," he replied.

"I can't say I couldn't see that coming. It's obvious Billy didn't want to be here, but that doesn't mean I wanted it to happen, all the same." Sam sighed.

"Same," Phil said. "He was a nice person."

There was a comfortable silence in which the cafeteria around them steadily got busier, but they seemed to be cocooned in their own little private bubble where no one else could penetrate them. "It makes you think, doesn't it?"

"Think what?" Phil asked.

"Well, about the job. I mean, what if other people aren't cut out for being an officer. What if I'm not?" She looked up and Phil could see the idea had worried her for a while. "George seems to think I have a knack for literature and that I should give up on becoming a police officer and write books instead. And I can't say writing _doesn't_ appeal to me, but I'd rather be out there. Solving cases and taking on an active role. But what if he's right? Would it be better to just, I don't know, give up?"

"I believe, that is the last thing you should do." Phil told her forcefully. "If you want to be a police officer, then you can be a police officer. You're more than capable, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Sam blushed, smiling at him. "Thanks Phil."

She covered his hand with her own and Phil felt his own smile widen as they stared at each other for a moment.

* * *

"_**Oh my god!" Zoe exclaimed, she was literally sat on the edge of her bed clinging on as she lent forward eagerly.**_

_**"You're going to fall off," Phil laughed as he pushed her backwards.**_

"_**What happened next!" Zoe asked, grinning.**_

_**Phil shrugged. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."**_

"_**Oh," Zoe fell back on to her bed looking disheartened.**_

"_**OK, maybe not absolutely nothing. But it seemed like that at least, you see, these things take time. We were each in somewhat committed relationships and just as far as holding hands, whilst not drunk, was a step forward. We were building, building towards something." Phil explained.**_

"_**Wow," Zoe said and it was prolonged due to a large yawn that emitted from her mouth.**_

"_**OK, enough's enough. Bed, now." Phil said.**_

"_**Fine," Zoe said, resigned to her fate. "But you're not getting away with this, tomorrow morning, you'll start again until we're finished!"**_

_**She set her face stubbornly and Phil chuckled. "Fine, but as long as you sleep now."**_

_**Zoe crawled back into bed and Phil tucked the covers around her before kissing her on the forehead. "Goodnight sweetheart."**_

"_**Night Dad," Zoe sighed sleepily before her head rolled to one side. **_

_**Phil walked towards the door and switched the light off, he watched his daughter sleep for a moment and felt himself smile sadly. He wished it could be a happy ending. He wished he could tell her who her mother was. But as they both knew, it wasn't a happy ending. **_

* * *

_Guhh! _So, they're you go :)


End file.
